Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: Nashville-Predators

The Nashville Predators will play hockey here for at least two more years after the team’s ownership group said Friday it had reached an agreement with the Metro Sports Authority, which serves as the city’s landlord at Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators and the Sports Authority had been in negotiations in recent months to address a $3.3 million federal tax lien against lead owner and former chairman David Freeman.

Uncertainty has surrounded the Predators’ future in Nashville for years. Three years ago, the team was nearly sold to an out-of-state owner, and more recently financial questions have plagued the team’s new ownership group

As of Tuesday morning, it appears as if Nashville general manager David Poile hasn’t been impressed enough to move defenseman Dan Hamhuis to the Flyers or anyone else.

The NHL trade deadline is 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Three teams have made offers on Hamhuis, and they have not been accepted,” said a source close to the situation. “Dan wants to stay in Nashville. At this point, it looks like the Predators are going to keep him.”

David Freeman, chairman of the Nashville Predators Hockey Club, has informed the city of Nashville and the Sports Authority that he is stepping away from the helm of the organization, according to a letter to the city sent by Freeman’s attorney.

Tom Cigarran, chairman of the Franklin-based wellness firm Healthways, has been unanimously appointed by the ownership group to become the third person to represent the team on the NHL Board of Governors.

Freeman has been under fire by the Sports Authority in recent months as a result of his contest with the IRS over a portion of his 2007 tax returns. In the letter to the city,

This is the first step, since the more moves you make, the more you have to surrender.

Is it vital that the Predators add some offensive depth, considering that they have been spotty in goal-scoring at times, have the league’s 24th-ranked power play and will be relying on some aging veterans during a compressed schedule?

Or is someone who can boost the penalty kill and aid in the faceoff circle even more of a priority, considering that the penalty kill — normally a Nashville strength — is currently ranked 24th and that the Predators are ranked 20th in face-off percentage?

“We could use a tweak or two,” Preds Coach Barry Trotz said. “We’re actually scoring more goals than people thought we’d score, but we’re giving up a little more than what we want … So maybe a veteran penalty-killer or a real good faceoff guy, or maybe a guy that’s produced a little bit more (offensively).”

Who’s out there? Some of the forward names getting tossed around are those from teams that have nearly been eliminated from the playoff chase — Carolina’s Ray Whitney and Matt Cullen, Edmonton’s Fernando Pisani and Ethan Moreau, Toronto’s Alexei Ponika-rovsky, and Columbus’ Raffi Torres and Fredrik Modin.

As to whether the Preds might trade either Hamhuis or one of the goalies, Nashville General Manager David Poile at this point seems more inclined to hold on to those players.

Predators Coach Barry Trotz is looking for a little more commitment on both ends of the rink from veteran forward J.P. Dumont.

That message was delivered Thursday, when Dumont saw just 8:45 ice time on the fourth line, and elaborated upon Friday.

“He’s got great hockey sense and he’s got that great ability to see the ice,’’ Trotz said of Dumont. “But you have to play on both sides of the puck and you have to play the hard areas. I’m asking him to change a little bit.

“It’s hard to score now. Teams are tracking back. You’re not going to get those easy-rush goals. You’re going to have to go after it a little bit more.’‘

And Dumont’s response?

“It really doesn’t matter how he takes it,’’ Trotz said. “I really don’t care how he takes it. It’s more you’re going to play a certain way to be successful or … Ice time is the only thing a coach has, so that’s where it starts.’‘